hmmm TC30 v. L2800 v. MF1428v

[ITAMike]

Thank you in advance one and all for your help and comments. I've read several threads through and am now begging for some advice myself.

I live on 21ac in Southern CA in the mountains. About half the land is good cleared pasture, an acre of so for the house and outbuildings, maybe 4-6 acres untouched but could be fenced and put to use, maybe 2-3 ac of steep slope/creek.

Land has a lot of granite just under the topsoil and moving granite pieces occasionally will happen. Most common uses brush hog the weeds, maybe clear some of the unused land, scrape the dirt road, maybe do some fencing/auger, maybe shove some dirt around. Will probably end up with a couple head of cattle/horses, buld a bard, etc. etc.

Well my gray market, rebuilt, barely any rubber or bushings tractor just shot a connecting rod out the side of the engine wall, greasing up my nice pasture. So I'm looking to step up to one of the big colors and not have to worry about flying metal or a half a wheel of play in the steering. Dealers in the area are roughly the same. Quotes on the table are as follows.

MF1428v 4x4 HST 54"FEL, 5'scraper ag tires $17K
NH TC30 4x4 HST 60"FEL 5'scrape R1(?) wider tires $18K
NH TC30 4x4 Gear no FEL($3700add), 5' box, ag tires $12850
K L2800 4x4 HST 60"FEL, 5'box wide tire, $15,350

Let's see what else...don't have any finish mowing to do...never owned an automatic car, wife only drives stick, no kids. I don't mind manual, but currently i have to wait 4 min for my brush hog to stop spinning before I can go from say 2nd to 3rd. Haven't done the research to see if the TC30 will allow me to stop, shift and go without waiting on the BH/PTO.

Any help would be greatly appreciated...THANKS!!

 

[ITAMike]

my neighbor swears I can drive to Oregon, save $1800 on price and 1200 on tax to buy out of state. Of course not working a couple days could cost me a grand and who knows how much I could spend on the road. I don't want to throw away money, but then again I'm always short on time....

 

[thcri]

I am not familiar with the Kubota brands or the Massey. But I am sure someone else will chime in here. But I do want to make a comment about your sales tax. Some states, will expect you to pay the sales tax even though you bought it in another state. There has been many discussions here on TBN about it and you may or may not be able to get out of the sales tax. If I remember right one guy here on TBN thought he got out of it but two years later he got a statement from his state saying he owed. I would sure double check into it before thinking your going to save.


murph

 

[CajunRider]

I believe in California you'll have to pay use tax if you buy it from out of state so don't count on the saving on sale tax.

If I have to choose between those three. I'd pick the L2800DT. If I have to stay with just the three colors, I'd pick the L3400DT. If I can go to other colors hmmmmm... I think I'd better not. You mentioned that you want to stay with these 3.

 

[ITAMike]

RE: tax If you ask the state of CA...yes of course you have to pay the tax. If the state has no way of finding out...yes you still have to pay the tax. And the honest man does. Personally I don't have the time or the inclination to drive out of state so it's not really an issue.

Price may help me with the haggle though. I know price is dependent on where one lives. Since the SoCal fires, prices around here are way up. I just don't have any way to know if the prices I've been given are fair, good, way too high or just a bit up.

RE: the colors I simply went to the local dealers in my area. Outside of the blue, greene, orange and MFred I could not find a single person with something else in stock. So I'm really looking to buy something soon and that happens to be the NH, K, or MF.

Any further info on the models or the pricing is always appreciated...Thanks again!!

 

[Archdean]

Buy a K today and you will be OK!!!!

 

[willywildes]

ask your dealer about the Calif ag sales tax i think it was 1.3%. to get this rate you have to plan to use the tractor to produce 300$ of produce, or other goods to give to charity. you have three years to do it. ask your dealer he will tell you the ins and outs.

Good luck !!
WW

 

[ITAMike]

WW thanks for the ag tax tip. Just may save me some $$.

After review I think I'm down to the K-L2800 or the MF 1428 ...unless anyone can convince me otherwise. Perhaps a run to each dealer to see who wants to sweeten the deal.

One question on clutch...the K has tranny driven with overrunning clutch (the L3400 says live continuous), the MF is dual dry live independent. Can anyone shed some light on what that means to me out in the pasture??

Thanks again!!

 

[RodgerF]

The TC 30 has a 2 stage clutch. The pto will stay engaged while you shift gears.

Prices seem to be a little higher in SoCal than here in VA. Were these prices firm or is there some wiggle room? I'd try for another 4-500 off the TC30 gear if you can.

All those tractors are good ones and will do what you need. See which one fits you best, then buy the TC30. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Rodger

 

[CajunRider]

The clutch is why I recommend the L3400. The L3400 has dual clutch similar to the TC30 while the L2800 has a single clutch i.e. the PTO drops out when you are shifting gear.

You may want to check into Kioti. They are competitive in Calif as I was told.